The disclosure relates generally to a distributed antenna system (DAS), and more particularly, to communicating time-division duplex (TDD) communication signals in a DAS.
Wireless customers are increasingly demanding digital data services, such as streaming video signals. At the same time, some wireless customers use their wireless communication devices in areas that are poorly serviced by conventional cellular networks, such as inside certain buildings or areas where there is little cellular coverage. One response to the intersection of these two concerns has been the use of DASs. DASs include remote units configured to receive and transmit communications signals to client devices within the antenna range of the remote units. DASs can be particularly useful when deployed inside buildings or other indoor environments where the wireless communication devices may not otherwise be able to effectively receive radio frequency (RF) signals from a source.
DASs are especially effective in extending indoor coverage for high-speed and high-throughput wireless broadband technologies like long-term evolution (LTE). LTE is a high-speed wireless technology developed by the third generation partnership project (3GPP). LTE is defined to support both the paired spectrum for frequency-division duplex (FDD) and the unpaired spectrum for TDD.
In LTE TDD, communication signals are communicated in repetitively alternating downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) periods that occupy the same frequency band. In this regard, DL communications can only take place during DL periods and UL communications can only take place during UL periods. Unlike LTE FDD, in which DL and UL capacities are symmetric, LTE TDD allows DL and UL capacities to be asymmetrically configured based predefined TDD configurations. For example, 3GPP has defined seven different TDD configurations for partitioning TDD DL and UL periods.
No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of any cited documents.